Texas State (5-4, 3-2) vs. Southern Miss (1-8, 0-5)
Homecoming

Saturday, November 16, 2024
UFCU Stadium | San Marcos, Texas
Kickoff: 6 PM

TV: ESPN+
            Brant Freeman (Play-by-play)
            Bill Culhane (Analyst)

Radio: KTSW 89.9 & Varsity Network (free app)
            Clint Shields (Play-by-play)
            Geff Gandy (Analyst)

X/Twitter Updates: @TXSTATEFOOTBALL

OPENING DRIVE

• Texas State is coming off a historic 2023 season that saw the program win its first bowl game, in its first appearance, a 45-21 victory over Rice in the SERVEPRO First Responder Bowl.
• The Bobcats set an FBS-program record with eight wins in 2023.
• Texas State posted the highest season attendance average the program has seen in 2023 at 21,184 (127,102 total), and has had two sellouts at UFCU Stadium in 2024.
• TXST is coming off a 38-17 win over ULM on the road that saw the Bobcats post a season high 326 rushing yards off 45 attempts. They also held ULM to 278 yards of total offense, the lowest in 2024.
• Since joining the Sun Belt in 2013, Texas State is 5-6 in Homecoming match-ups, last winning in 2021 against ULM (27-19).
• True freshman quarterback Brad Jackson was named to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Honorable Mention list for his 119-yard, 2 TD rushing performance at ULM. 
• Southern Miss enters the match up 1-8 on the season having picked up its lone win against Southeastern on Sept. 7.

A WIN VS SOUTHERN MISS MEANS...

• The Bobcats improve to 3-2 in the series with Southern Miss.
• Texas State wins four Sun Belt games for the second consecutive season after going 4-4 in 2023. It is the third time overall in the Sun Belt (2014, 5-3).
• TXST is bowl eligible for the second consecutive season after going 7-5 through the regular season in 2023.

VICTORY STAR
Texas State played in, and won, its first bowl game in 2023, a 45-21 victory over Rice in the SERVEPRO First Responder Bowl.

• The Bobcats set an FBS program record for wins in a season with 8.
• The last time Texas State had 8 wins in a season was in 2008 when the Bobcats were 8-4 in the regular season and finished the year with a first-round loss at Montana in the Division I-AA (FCS) Playoffs first round.
• Texas State has 14 seasons in its program history with 8 or more wins.

THE KINNE EFFECT
In his first year, Texas State head coach GJ Kinne took the Bobcats to a place they have never gone -- a bowl game -- and did something that has not been done in 40 years.

• Kinne is the first Texas State head coach to have a winning season in his first campaign at the helm of the Bobcats since Dennis Franchione in 1990 (6-5).
• With the bowl win, Kinne became the first, first-year head coach at Texas State to win 8 or more games since John O'Hara in 1983 (9-3). O'Hara took over the Bobcats after they won back-to-back DII national championships under Jim Wacker in 1981 and 1982.
• Prior to Kinne, only 2 Texas State head coaches in the program's history had won 8 or more games in their first season: O'Hara (1983) and Bill Miller (8-2 in 1965).
• Kinne was named the 21st head coach in Texas State's history on Dec. 2, 2022 (one day after his 34th birthday).

EXCITING BRAND OF FOOTBALL
One thing that GJ Kinne and the rest of the Texas State coaching staff installed in their first year was an offense that has produced at its highest level in the Bobcats' FBS history.

• Texas State finished the 2023 season ranked 11th in the country in scoring offense (36.7) and 15th in total offense (457.6).
• Texas State finished 28th in the country in passing offense (270.9) and 26th in rushing offense (186.7).
• Entering 2023 as an FBS team, Texas State had never ranked higher than 24th in the nation in total offense. In 2014, the Bobcats finished the season 24th in total offense, which was the only time they had been in the nation's top-50 in that category.
• Also entering the season, Texas State's highest finish as an FBS team in rushing offense was 18th (2014) and passing offense was 56th (2020).
• Its best finish in scoring offense at the FBS level was 31st in 2014.
• The Texas State offense averaged 132.4 more yards per game in 2023 compared to 2022.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Comparing averages and national rank

	2022		2023
Category	Total	Rank	Total	Rank
Total Offense	325.2	112th	457.6	15th
Scoring Offense	21.1	110th	36.7	11th
Passing Offense	221.1	79th	270.9	28th
Rushing Offense	104.1	119th	186.7	26th

TXST in 2024

	2024
Category	Total	Rank
Total Offense	444.4	23
Scoring Offense	33.1	33
Passing Offense	244.3	50
Rushing Offense	200.1	25

ON THE OFFENSIVE
While Texas State's offense finished 11th in the country in scoring offense, it became the nation's most improved scoring offense over the 2023 season.

• Texas State improved its scoring output from 21.1 points per game in 2022 to 36.7 in 2023 (+15.6). 33.1 in 2024
• The Bobcats' 36.7 points per game in 2023 marked the first time they have averaged more than 28 points per game since 2014 when they averaged 33.8.

A FINE LINE
TXST State has started the same offensive line every game in 2024 - Strawn, Jones, Todd, Lockette, Harkey. The Bobcats are 1 of 7 FBS teams to do so this season. The group has combined for 115 career starts, led by Nash Jones with 48.

LET'S GET ACTIVE
Quarterback Jordan McCloud ranks in the top 10 among FBS active players in touchdown passes and total TDs responsible for and the top 20 for completions, completion %, passing yards, total plays and total offense.

TD passes | 79 (6)
Total TDs responsible for | 98 (5)
Passing Yards | 8,943 (16)
Total Plays | 1,481 (15)
Total Offense | 9,879 (14)
Completions | 748 (16)
Completion % | 64.6% (19)

Ismail Mahdi is also an active national leader for all-purpose yards, leading the country in all purpose-yards per game.

All-purpose YPG | 147.32 (1)
Rushing YPG | 95.6 (4)
Rushes/Game | 16.73 (7)
KO return avg | 25.4 (14)

STAYIN' ALIVE
Two Bobcats have a streak of 25+ games with a reception, making TXST 1 of only 3 FBS teams with two players on the list (Utah, Wake Forest).

Joey Hobert sits at 32 dating back to Dec. 31, 2021, while Kole Wilson is at 27 starting Nov. 5, 2022.

Hobert had his 4th multi-TD game at Texas State, and 9th overall, against Arkansas State.

2024 games
vs. Lamar | 6-91, 2TD
vs. Sam Houston | 8-75, 2TD
vs. Arkansas State | 10-101, 2TD

• Hobert was one of the top targets for Texas State in 2023.
• Led the team with 76 receptions for 895 yards and 8 receiving touchdowns. 
• Receptions and receiving yards were both FBS program records.
• Hobert, who missed 2 of the last 3 games of the season, is second all-time on TXST's single-season reception list.
• Hobert -- as well as Kole Wilson -- are tied for 5th in the program's history for most receiving touchdowns in a season with the 8.

IN THE RANKINGS
TXST players in the nation's top 20...
 

Player	Category	Value	Rank
McCloud	Passing TDs	21	12
	Pts Responsible For	162	10
	Pts Responsible For/Game	18.0	10
	Completion %	68.6	13
	Passing Efficiency	157.3	17
Hobert	Receiving TDs	7	19
Nolan	Fumbles Recovered	2	8

TAKE BACK TEXAS
Texas State has a .590 winning % dating back to the start of the 2023 season, and is one of only four FBS teams in Texas to win eight games in 2023.
 

	2024	2023	Total	%
Texas	8-1	12-2	20-3	.869
SMU	8-1	11-3	19-4	.826
Texas A&M	7-2	7-6	14-8	.636
TXST	5-4	8-5	13-9	.590
UTSA	4-5	9-4	13-9	.590
Texas Tech	6-4	7-6	13-10	.565
TCU	6-4	5-7	11-11	.500
North Texas	5-4	5-7	10-11	.476
Sam Houston	7-2	3-9	10-11	.476
Rice	3-7	6-7	9-14	.391
Houston	4-5	4-8	8-13	.363
Baylor	5-4	3-9	8-13	.363
UTP	2-8	3-9	5-17	.227

FAST START
The Bobcats have outscored their opponents 106-27 in the first quarter of games this season and 185-92 through the first half. TXST has also held 4 opponents (Lamar, Sam Houston, Troy & ULM) scoreless in the first quarter and 2 in the first half (Lamar & ULM).

HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN
The Bobcats have sold out 2 of 5 home games this season with crowds of 28,000 against UTSA and Arkansas State. It was the first Sun Belt Conference sellout for TXST on Oct. 12.

Single-Game Attendance Highs (Home)
Rk     Date Attendance Opponent
1.     Sept. 24, 2016 - 33,133 Houston
2.     Sept. 8, 2012 - 33,006 Texas Tech
3.     Sept. 13, 2014 - 32,007 Navy
4.     Sept. 23, 2017 - 31,333 UTSA
5.     Oct. 12, 2024 - 28,000 Troy
        Sept. 7, 2024 - 28,000 UTSA

MAKING OUR POINT
While Texas State's offense was one of the highest scoring in the country in 2023, the season was also its highest scoring in the school's FBS history.

• Texas State set an FBS school record with 477 points scored, besting the previous mark of 406 set in 2014.
• It was only the second time in the school's FBS history that the Bobcats scored 400+ points in a single season (406 in 2014).
• The 477 points were the most points scored by TXST in any season besting the 470 in 13 games in 2008 as an FCS program. That year, Texas State scored 457 points in 12 regular season games (432 in 2023 regular season).
• Texas State scored 40+ points in 6 games last season, which topped the overall program record of 5 previously set in 1967 and 1983 (2 in 2024).
• The Bobcats scored 265 points in conference-play in 2023 (8 games). In 2022, Texas State scored 253 points all season (12 games).
• TXST is averaging 29.6 points in conference games in 2024.

SCORING OFFENSE, TXST'S FBS HISTORY
Top seasons since 2012

Rk	Year	Points	Games
--	2024	298	9
1	2023	477	13
2	2014	406	12
3	2012	343	12
4	2020	332	12
5	2015	323	12

TOTAL OFFENSE
Texas State's offense set the FBS program record for most yards in a season in 2023.

• Texas State's 5,961 total yards of offense bested the program's previous FBS record of 5,573 set in 2014.
• The overall program record for most yards of total offense in a season is 6,147 set in 2005 (14 games).
• The Bobcats had 486+ yards of offense 6 times in 2023, a yardage total they matched exactly to open the 2024 season

450+ in 2024
Lamar | 486
UTSA | 504
Troy | 467
Arkansas State | 591

TOTAL OFFENSE, TXST'S FBS HISTORY
Top seasons since 2012

Rk	Year	Total Yards	Games
--	2024	4,000	9
1	2023	5,961	13
2	2014	5,573	12
3	2015	5,000	12
4	2012	4,557	12

AIR ATTACK
Texas State's passing offense set the FBS and overall program record for most yards in a season in 2023.

• Texas State had 3,522 passing yards in 2023, which marked the first time since 2008 that the Bobcats totaled more than 3,000 yards in the air. 
• The overall program record for passing yards in a season was 3,499 set in 2008 (13 games).
• Texas State had 200+ passing yards in all but 2 games in 2023 (7 of 9 in 2024).
• The Bobcats have only thrown for 3,000+ yards in a season 4 times in program history: 2003, 2008, 2009, 2023.
• Texas State had 5 300-yard passing games in 2023, which is an FBS program record (3 in 2024).
• The Bobcats also set the overall program record for most completions in a season with 287. The previous record was 264 in 2009.

MOST PASSING YARDS, TXST HISTORY
Most passing yards in a season, overall history

Rk	Year	Passing Yds	Games
--	2024	2,199	9
1	2023	3,522	13
2	2008	3,499	13
3	2009	3,178	11
4	2003	3,129	12

GROUND GAME
Despite throwing for more than 3,500 yards in 2023, the Bobcat offense was also one of the best in the country and in the program's FBS history in rushing

• Texas State rushed for 2,439 yards last season, which was the second-most in the program's FBS history (2,862 in 2014).
• Texas State has rushed for more than 2,000 yards in a season 5 times in the program's 12 years at the FBS level. The first 4 instances, though, were in the first 4 years in FBS.
• The Bobcats finished the season as one of 35 FBS team to register 3,000+ passing yards and 2,000+ rushing yards.

MOST TEAM RUSHING YARDS IN A SEASON
Texas State's FBS history

Rk	Year	Rushing Yds	Attempts
--	2024	1,801	358
1	2014	2,862	538
2	2023	2,439	529
3	2015	2,248	470
4	2012	2,152	413
5	2013	2,058	471

On the other side of the ball, Texas State has held opponents under 101 rushing yards four times this season and is 3-1 in those outings.
vs Lamar | 51 yds
vs UTSA | 82 yds
vs Arizona State | 101 yds
at Troy | 63 yds